Doctors and scientists claim they were asked by the Royal Society of Medicine to hide the word ‘abortion’ from signs and posters at a conference dedicated to the topic.
Campaign group Doctors for Choice UK obscured the line “Abortion Rights Clinicians” on their poster with three yellow Post-it notes that bore the word “censored”.
The photo was shared on Twitter by Dr Jane Dixon, a consultant in sexual and reproductive health, who said: “Can’t believe in 2022 @RoySocMed has banned us from using the word #Abortion at an #AbortionCare conference.” In in later posts she said organizers were asked to cover up the word on signs and posters.
The conference is a British Society of Abortion Care Providers (BSACP) event, organized by the Royal Society of Medicine (RSM) in London, and is held in a hybrid format, with participants also able to join online.
According to online information, the conference “provides an opportunity for health professionals working in the field of abortion care and provision to come together face-to-face as a supportive community.”
An RSM spokesperson said: “We are proud to have organised, promoted and hosted this important conference on abortion care. We have used the term ‘abortion’ in all our promotional activities, in the event title and during the event itself. We are investigating the allegations made today.”
Abortion Talk, My Body My Life and Doctors For Choice UK issued a joint statement saying they had been invited to the conference to set up an exhibition and stand – as they have done in previous years. However, upon arrival, they say they were asked by RSM staff to settle into a small seminar room in the basement, next to the toilets.
“We were initially told this was due to the ‘sensitive’ nature of the exhibition,” the statement added, noting the “emphasis” placed on an adjacent Children’s Trust conference on pediatric brain injuries.
The groups refused to sit in the basement but were denied permission to sit in the main exhibitor space for the BSACP conference because they were not fee-paying exhibitors.
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“A compromise was reached whereby we could place the stand in the main refreshment area as long as we obscured the word abortion where it could be visible to those attending the Children’s Trust conference,” the statement said. “While we weren’t sure whether to censor ourselves, we ultimately decided that this was a prime example of why our organizations are so desperately needed.”
It added: “Abortion is health care and the abortion providers attending this conference received a clear message from the Royal Society of Medicine that this vitally important area of medicine is something to hide and be ashamed of.” No other specialty would be subjected to this stigmatizing treatment.”
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